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24K miles of twisties and dropped the RT in 7-11 Parking Lot

Picked up some Stabil yesterday and hopped on the R1200RT to cruise down to 7-11 to top off the tank before I plugged in the tender for the cold snap we're headed into this week. As I cruised up to the pump, stopped, flipped the side stand down, and leaned the bike left, I realized, oops, the side stand wasn't down. She leaned past that sickening point of no return and down she went, ride there in front of a bunch of witnesses. No sure what hurts most, the scratch on my side case or my pride. I've ridden this bike 24K miles in the last 8 months thru roads like Beartooth Pass, Independence Pass, Pike's Peak, and other twisties. As they say, its not a a matter of if, but when you're gonna drop it. I think I'll just leave the side case as is to remind myself how stupid I can be. You can bet I'll be double checking the side stand is down from now on.

On a side note, this is my first year on the forum and I've really enjoyed reading the posts and have a learned a lot from everyone. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

If that is the first time you've dropped a bike at zero miles per hour, you're doing much better than most of us.

A couple years ago after too much first hand experience and listening to a lot of stories from experienced riders who also had done a lot of dumb things at zero to 2 mph, I wrote an article for the ON titled "Don't Drop the Bike." You can find it here on the forum if you are interested.

It was bad enough that I dropped my bike in a busy shopping center lot when I forgot to deploy my kickstand after 30+ years of riding. I felt good that I was able to pick up my 700+ pound bike by myself. However, I felt really bad that after it got upright, it kept right on going and fell on the other side. Scratched up both sides with many witnesses in a small town when I have the only brown BMW in the county.

'You can say what you want about the South, but I almost never hear of anyone wanting to retire to the North.

Yeah it's a bummer when it happens. I can't think of one person that I ride with who hasn't had something like that happen. Everything from dropping it while washing it to the same thing at the gas pump. I'm seriously thinking about the bars for my RT too. Probably wont help much in a drop with speed but the accidental oops in the driveway or parking lot will result in less damage.

It was bad enough that I dropped my bike in a busy shopping center lot when I forgot to deploy my kickstand after 30+ years of riding. I felt good that I was able to pick up my 700+ pound bike by myself. However, I felt really bad that after it got upright, it kept right on going and fell on the other side. Scratched up both sides with many witnesses in a small town when I have the only brown BMW in the county.

Sorry to hear about your double drop!

Last year around this time I parked my bike in the driveway and came in for a glass of water. No sooner was I in the house when I heard a crashing sound and lots of screaming. I ran out and saw that my wife backed out of the garage and knocked over my Harley Road King (approx 825 lbs)!

I ran right over and just picked it up and set it on the stand! Now I'm not that young or that big (65 years old at the time, 6', 175 lbs), must have been the adrenaline pumping that helped me pick it up.

Cost me about $250 in parts to fix the bike and $500 deductable to fix the car!

Picked up some Stabil yesterday and hopped on the R1200RT to cruise down to 7-11 to top off the tank before I plugged in the tender for the cold snap we're headed into this week. As I cruised up to the pump, stopped, flipped the side stand down, and leaned the bike left, I realized, oops, the side stand wasn't down. She leaned past that sickening point of no return and down she went, ride there in front of a bunch of witnesses. No sure what hurts most, the scratch on my side case or my pride. I've ridden this bike 24K miles in the last 8 months thru roads like Beartooth Pass, Independence Pass, Pike's Peak, and other twisties. As they say, its not a a matter of if, but when you're gonna drop it. I think I'll just leave the side case as is to remind myself how stupid I can be. You can bet I'll be double checking the side stand is down from now on.

On a side note, this is my first year on the forum and I've really enjoyed reading the posts and have a learned a lot from everyone. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

I left the side case with scratches for two years to remind myself to check, the check again at stops. Then I painted it. Should have done it sooner. YMMV.

Did the same thing recently...pulled into my garage, turned the key off, deployed the side stand and over she went. Turns out I actually missed the side stand and pushed on the centerstand which folded back as soon as it touched the ground. . As my father-in-law would say "stupid - stupid - stupid!" Oh well ... it's only my 3rd RT over the years. I'll figure it out someday :-)

Dutch

I've dropped my K-Bike several times learning how to get it down from the center stand.... Not sure why it took me so long to figure it out, but the decals that were available at the Sedalia rally have come in handy for covering up all the scratches.... Sure am glad I bought a used sport tourer first to get the feel for the bike before venturing out with a brand spanking new bike.... I'd really be upset if I dropped a new one right away....

Hey, at least you did not pin yourself between the bike and the gas pump and have to ask your date to come to your rescue. Not fun, trust me. I can chuckle about it now, but I was not amused at the time. I bet everyone else thought it was comical. I know my date did, she still reminds me about it after 20 years.

Hey, at least you did not pin yourself between the bike and the pump and have to ask your date to come to your rescue. Not fun, trust me. I can chuckle about it now, but I was not amused at the time. I bet everyone else thought it was comical. I know my date did, she still reminds me about it after 20 years.

Great story! Thanks for sharing it.

You are truly blessed if that's the worst she has to remind you about!!

Drop

Looks like I've got plenty of company in the "I dropped my bike" group. It still gripes me though at how a simple glance to make sure the stand was down could have prevented it. Oh well, lesson learned I guess. Thanks for sharing your stories.

Mods - please help

I know i posted an article "Don't Drop the Bike" on one of these forums. The article appeared in the ON. I suspect most of the people on this thread would like to read it. I can't find it with the search engine. Help would be appreciated, not only a mouse click to the article, but also what I am doing wrong so I can't find it.